80%Acer Predator Helios 300: Great gaming laptop, Great value [Review]Source: G Style MagazineWith Black Friday and Cyber Monday unfortunately over this is still very easily a machine that you can afford to gift someone who is a gamer in your family and it’s also a laptop you personally can invest in if you’re a gamer. It’s one of the best gaming bundles not related to a gaming console there is. There’s so much to like with the Helios 300 and a few things to not like so much but the pros far outweigh the cons and I’d HIGHLY recommend this laptop to anyone looking for a gaming laptop. Acer absolutely nailed it and with Xmas holiday weeks away this is the time to pick up this laptop for your gaming needs. Head to Acer’s website and buy it direct from them or of course check your favorite retailer. Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 12/03/2018Rating:Total score: 80%

70%Acer Predator Helios 300 Special Edition ReviewSource: Laptop MagAcer's Predator Helios 300 Special Edition offers great performance, a good keyboard and a bright display, but its design and audio could be better. Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 10/29/2018Rating:Total score: 70%

80%Acer Predator Helios 300 reviewSource: TechradarDespite two glaring flaws, namely the cooling system and the speakers, this budget gaming laptop packs a punch. If you’re serious about gaming but have a limited budget, you’re going to want to pick this one up. Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 08/08/2018Rating:Total score: 80%

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Model: The Acer Predator Helios 300 PH315-51-73C5 is Acer's mid-range gaming laptop, which is built on Intel Core H processors and 1060 graphics. The Predator division was only formed in 2008 and was designed to focus primarily on gaming. It has been one of the most popular mid-range gaming laptops, mainly due to the pricing. With its part-metal build and GeForce GTX 1060 graphics, the Acer Predator Helios 300 is a compelling mid-range gaming laptop in a premium suite. The 300’s has been masterfully crafted and features brushed aluminum with two distinct curves providing an element of depth. Acer has placed two red lines on the inside and the Predator insignia is found in the very center. Along the edge of the lid, there is a section of plastic which not only helps with gripping to open/close the unit but also prevents any nasty smudges or fingerprints appearing on the lid. A dedicated graphics card that’s mere steps below the best, 16 GB of memory, the solid state drive and an 8th generation Intel Core processor, make this budget gaming laptop an impressive one when it comes to performance. The NVIDIA GTX 1060 has been selected and in this case, the 6 GB version. This model is ideal for 1080p gaming and is the sweet spot for this category of laptop. Most games will be able to sustain a healthy 60 fps with detail maxed out.

The only thing that really affects gaming performance is the fan. Due to the fact that the fan and cooling system on this gaming laptop isn’t great, a user will experience thermal throttling, which in turn causes stuttering and frame drops whenever the CPU or GPU overheats. However, setting the fan to max and turning on CoolBoost puts a stop to the stuttering, and the performance returns to as it should be. There’s a 15.6-inch matte display on the Helios 300, with an IPS panel. The display has true-to-life color reproduction, with stronger blue and magenta hues that we like better than warmer tones for gaming and watching movies. The display also boasts a 144 Hz refresh rate, which is not typically seen in budget gaming laptops. This is a major upgrade from the 2017 model to help minimize blur and make up for dropped frames. Connectivity is located in the usual place, which is along each side. On one edge there are a Kensington lock, a Gigabit Ethernet LAN port, a USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C port, an HDMI 2.0 port, a USB 3.1 Gen1 port, and an SDXC card slot reader. Users will notice the LAN port looks rather different to a conventional slot, since the lower latch drops down. Cable is connected and then the latch is released for a secure fitment. Over on the other side, there are 2 USB 2.0 ports, activity/battery LED indicators and a DC-in port.

Hands-on article by Jagadisa Rajarathnam

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Laptop): The mobile GTX 1060 is based on the GP106 chip and offer 1280 shaders. Compared to the identically named desktop version it features a slightly lower clock rate. Games in Full HD and maximum details should run fluently on the card.
These graphics cards are able to play the latest and most demanding games in high resolutions and full detail settings with enabled Anti-Aliasing.
» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Graphics Cards and the corresponding Benchmark List.Intel Core i7: The Intel Core i7 for laptops is based on the LG1156 Core i5/i7 CPU for desktops. The base clock speed of the CPUs is relatively low, but because of a huge Turbo mode, the cores can dynamically overclock to up to 3.2 GHz (920XM). Therefore, the CPU can be as fast as high clocked dual-core CPUs (using single threaded applications) but still offer the advantage of 4 cores. Because of the large TDP of 45 W / 55 W, the CPU is only intended for large laptops. 8750H: On Coffee Lake architecture based processor for big and heavy laptops. Integrates six processor cores clocked at 2.2 - 4.1 GHz (4 GHz with 4 cores, 3.9 GHz with 6 cores) that support HyperThreading. Manufactured in an improved 14nm process (14nm++). » Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Processsors.15.6":

15-16 inch is a standard display size for laptops and offers the biggest variety of products.

» To find out how fine a display is, see our DPI List.2.7 kg:

This weight is representative for typical laptops with a 14-16 inch display-diagonal.

Acer: The company was founded under the name of Multitech in Taiwan in 1976 and renamed to Acer or Acer Group in 1987. The product range includes, for example, laptops, tablets, smartphones, desktops, monitors and televisions. Gateway Inc. and Packard Bell also belong to the Group and sell their own laptops.

While Acer still had the third largest global market share in the notebook segment in 2008, it ranked 6th in 2016 with a market share of 6% after they had continuously lost market shares.

There are dozens of Acer laptop reviews per month, the ratings are average (as of 2016). Gateway, which has an own laptop line-up, has also belonged to the Acer Group since 2007.

77.5%: This rating is not convincing. The laptop is evaluated below average, this is not really a recommendation for purchase.
» Further information can be found in our Notebook Purchase Guide.